the car and tap-dance the rest of the way to the hospital, throwing some classic Gene Kelly moves in as I went. Luckily I managed to resist temptation.
'Did you hire one yet?' Albert asked.
'Yeah. She should be there in the next 20 minutes or so.'
'What's her name?'
'Shelby Turnett.'
'What's the story on that, would you tell me? With millions of names out there made just for girls, why do they have to go and use men's names? As soon as you name a girl Bobbi or Terri or Shelby that name is ruined for men for all time!' I should've known the grouch in him couldn't be defeated.
'I gotta go now.'
'Work or play?'
'Work.'
'Have you noticed that's all you ever do? You should play more.' He barked it, like an order, and I instantly wanted to work for the next 48 straight. Juvenile, I know, but he brings that out in me. I struggled to keep my temper in check.
'I think I've forgotten how.' It was supposed to be a joke, but neither one of us laughed.
'Matt was good for you that way. He always made sure you had plenty of fun to balance your serious side. You need to find somebody like him. It's been long enough.' I knew, for him, that ended the subject. He had commanded me to move on, therefore I would. What a jerk.
'I have to go,' I said as evenly as I could considering I wanted to reach through the phone and smack him upside the head.
'Me too.'
Click. We were done.
Like a couple of Shriners who've veered off the parade route, Cole and I arrived at our meeting place in tandem and parked one behind the other. The minute he saw me he started laughing.
'This is serious stuff, Cole,' I said, trying to sound stern.
'Aw, come on Lucille, admit it, this is fun.' He blew a big blue bubble and popped it all over his nose.
'You are so naive,' I said, but I couldn't quite swallow the smile that kept surfacing every time I took in a new detail of his appearance. He'd gone with a pair of Drew Carey glasses. A green fishing hat, complete with dangling lure, hid most of his shaggy hair. Fake teeth gave him a slight overbite and a gray jogging suit somehow managed to make him look wimpy and anemic.
'Check out the socks,' he said, wiggling his eyebrows like Groucho Marx. He hiked up the legs of his sweatpants to reveal black dress socks. I couldn't help myself. I started to giggle.
'Those socks really bring out the turquoise in your sneakers.'
'Did you notice they match my eyes? The shoes, not the socks.' He batted his eyelashes as I pretended to inspect his legs.
I nodded. 'I can see that. Now we just need to get you a handbag to complete the look.'
He clapped his hands, fingers splayed like a three-year-old's. 'Oh goody! Shopping!'
I shoved him toward my car. 'Oh, just shut up and get in.'
He looked at me brightly. 'You mean I'm driving?'
'Yup.'
He didn't argue the point, just jumped behind the wheel and started rubbing the soft leather of the seats as if it was his favorite cat. I got in beside him.
'So what's the plan?'
'We go up to Derek's room, pretend we're looking for our father. When he's not there, we both go into hysterics, thinking Dad's dead. You raise hell, I pass out and fall onto Derek. The key is, I have to touch him.'
'Why?'
I showed him the band-aid.
'Hey, I was just asking a question. You don't have to flip me off.'
'I was just…' I took note of the finger I was holding up and dropped my hand into my lap, laughing so hard I nearly blew snot all over the windshield. Cole started laughing too, and we sat there for a couple of minutes like two hyenas while deadly serious events moved forward without us. Eventually we would catch up, but for the moment it felt great to let go and laugh. As much as it sucked to say so, Albert was right, it had been a long, long time since I could.
Either Cole had just come along at the right time or I was going to have to carry him around in my hip pocket for the rest of my days.
Cole glanced out his window and pointed at a black SUV that had just passed us. 'Hey, I recognize those guys.' He looked at me, his face suddenly sober. 'They work for Assan.'
I nodded and put oh my seatbelt. 'Follow them.'
I filled him in on the bug as we drove. Luckily the story only took a minute, because we didn't have far to go. They stopped in the loading lane of the hospital. One guess who they'd come to recover.
